The Larry Scott Collection

Larry Scott was known around the world for his amazing physique and astounding arms.

• The first bodybuilder to win the Mr. Olympia competition 
• The only bodybuilder that is undefeated in Mr Olympia
•  One of the first bodybuilders to have 20 in. upper arms

Before claiming the Mr. Olympia title, Scott took Mr. America in 1962, the Mr. Universe title in 1964, and had a minor role in the 1964 movie Muscle Beach Party. Scott is said to have possessed little apparent genetic potential when he started training with weights in 1956, his narrow shoulders having been a particular weak spot. He trained with Vince Gironda, another well-known bodybuilder of the golden age. Scott is best known for his arm development - and perhaps most for his impressive biceps which were unusually long, allowing for good development and shape. Scott attributes his football-shaped biceps to an exercise invented by Gironda, "The Preacher Curl," which became standard repertoire among many bodybuilders, and is often called the Scott Curl due to the association with Scott. He was inducted into the IFBB Hall of Fame in 1999.

Scott was also a popular physique model during the early to mid 1960s, working for such famous photographers as Bruce of LA and Don Whitman, of Western Photography Guild. His "posing strap" material for Pat Milo (known professionally as simply "Milo") is today considered fine art. It was Milo who introduced Scott to a wide, appreciative audience and helped him hone his posing and photographic persona: that of the "boy next door." Larry regularly appeared in all of Joe Weider's bodybuilding magazines, including Mr. America and Muscle Builder, and he also figured prominently in Demi Gods, Muscleboy, and The Young Physique.

From 1960 until his retirement from competition in 1966, Scott was bodybuilding's top superstar. Bodybuilding magazines soon began capitalizing on his image, but Larry - an IFBB athlete - wrote exclusively for Joe Weider's publications. Larry's popularity completely eclipsed all other bodybuilders of his time, including such famous personalities as Freddy Ortiz, Chuck Sipes, Dave Draper, Leo Robert, Harold Poole, and Sergio Oliva. The phenomenon has since become known as "Larry fever" and reached its apex at the 1966 Mr. Olympia competition, where Larry defended his title and once again took home the crown.

Scott's retirement at the age of 28 sent shock waves throughout the sport. But Scott had other priorities (a second marriage), and after two Olympia wins, he'd done all he could do in competitive bodybuilding.

Now is Your Chance to Own the Ultimate Larry Scott Collection!

This 7 booklet Collection includes the following:

• Herculean Thighs The Mr. Universe Way
• The Art of Posing
• How I Built My 20 Inch Arms
• Incrediable Deltoid Thickness
• Arms That Stun
• Massive Forearms
• Building a Mr. America Chest

These booklets are approx. 20 pages each and include: amazing photos, illustrations, training tips, techniques, and advice from the master Larry Scott. 

Atomic Athletic has the collection.

Now is your opportunity to get ALL SEVEN of these rare booklets in one place.

Low Introductory Price: $69.95  

Visit Atomic Athletic at this link:

http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=BKLS07

Limited Supply. When these are gone, they are gone for good.  

Rychnovsky Recap May 15: foxtoledo.com

So You Missed It

So you missed out on another Atomic Athletic Great Black Swamp Olde Time Strongman Picnic.  Well, you can still get the flavor of one of our picnics by picking up any of our past event DVDs.  Here is a list of some of your options:

Power Clean Clinic

http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=VID103 

Atomic Athletic Great Black Swamp Olde Time Strongman Picnic 2009

http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=VID212 

Atomic Athletic Great Black Swamp Olde Time Strongman Picnic 2006

http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=VID210 

Night of Strength III

http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=VID110 

USAWA 2000 Nationals

http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=VID004  

(Just like the Picnic last weekend, many National and World records were set here)

Moore Muscle Classic

http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=VID001 

It is astonishing how many National and World Records were set at this meet, which still stand today.  I was going over the results from last weekend, and a number of those set in 1998 are still on the books.  Check it out.

Live strong,

Roger LaPointe

PS We have started posting photos from the picnic on our Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/AtomicAthletic 

Mr. Fancypants watch out. This article is going to make you mad. It is about being basic and lifting heavy weights.

Nothing really beats the simple use of thick bar for improving grip strength. Paul Anderson did it and so did Bill March. Of course, many of the old time strongmen, like Thomas Inch, Warren Lincoln Travis and Louis Cyr also used thick equipment.

Here is the key, use it for basic movements. Don't get too fancy. Do a couple of explosive moves and a couple of basic strength moves and then move on. Here is an example, during your regular routine, you might replace your hang cleans with thick bar hang cleans and then do some heavy clean grip deadlifts. After maxing out with the thick bar clean grip deadlifts, you might keep adding weight by switching back to a normal grip bar for even heavier clean grip deadlifts or explosive pulls. Thinking of your grip size as a progressive variable in your lifting is a very useful concept.

http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=Y02988

Remember, you are doing progressive weightlifting. That means you can change the weight on the bar. It seems like a simple concept, but I see so many people who do endless repetitions with easy weights. Don't use your thick bar as an excuse to lift light weights. Challenge yourself with the weight. Don't worry so much about including a million different exercises with endless fancypants variations.

We will reserve those high reps with millions of variations for the armchair athletes that strangely have nothing but plateaus and excuses. The rest of us will continue to get explosive, powerful and strong.

Here is our favorite thick bar. Use it and you will get a better grip. Don't put off grip training.

http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=Y02988

Live strong,

Roger LaPointe

PS. We have the Bull Moose Thick Bars in stock and ready to ship.

PSS. There will be plenty of grip guys at the Atomic Athletic Great Black Swamp Olde Time Strongman Picnic. Feel free to ask them questions. Don't restrict yourself to the young performers. Some of the “old” guys in the crowd are still setting records.

Knights and Neanderthals

I don't know where you stand on evolution, but if you read the Darwin awards we can all pretty much agree that a certain sub-set of society have been self selected right out of the gene pool. Which leads to one of the basic characteristics that make us human, our hands.

 Thick Bars & Hand Evolution: Potential Strength Gains

Picking something up is grip training. If you are NOT using your hands in an exercise, then there had best be a good reason for it.

http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=Y02988

Combined with our ability to walk and travel great distances in an upright position, the strength of the hand and its ability to carry objects for long periods of time can be a key to survival. Strongman contest events as a training exercise can be a good way to work this concept. Farmers walks are the obvious exercise, but any carrying or dragging would fit in with that concept. As great as they are, they are not the most efficient for time use or space.

 Volume of Training

Increasing grip strength is partially an issue of simple volume. Adding thick barbells and dumbbells to your training is an easy way to do that. At the Atomic Athletic Club Warehouse Gym we use the Bull Moose Thick Bar for our heaviest thick bar lifting. You can lift more weight with a barbell than with a dumbbell. That barbell also rotates, so we can safely and efficiently use it for explosive lifts. Yet, for maximum development of the grip, I cannot over state the importance thick handled dumbbells.

http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=WB001

Grip thickness impacts more than just the hand. Universally, I am told about the surprising effect on forearm development and strength when a new thick bar devotee uses our Brass Thick Handles. Our fine, yet sharp knurling and lack of the need for chrome or paint are details that allow the lifter to move a maximum amount of weight with the grip and really start utilizing the forearms. As the grip diameter increases so does the recruitment of muscles, ligaments and tendons in the wrist, forearm and elbow. There are a huge number of variables that feel the impact of that change. Barbells simply don't activate as many independent variables. Any strength coach should see the benefit of the thick dumbbell.

Minimize Potential Injuries

Rotating tools are the best for reducing the number of variables that can lead to injuries associated with free weights. The centrifugal force associated with non-rotating tools, particularly those with round barbell plates and heads, can be quite extreme, depending on the actual tool and exercise. Once exhaustion sets in, it is a factor in potential injuries. Use the non-rotating items when you are fresh. Believe me, we use a lot of odd tools here, but when we want a thick bar finisher, it will be with a rotating tool.

http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=BK90

Live strong,

Roger LaPointe